One of the things I’ll be doing is contributing at least one guest blog post each month to the Law Technology Today blog, which I recommend subscribing to in Google Reader or your other favorite RSS reader if you have any interest in legal technology at all (which you must, if you are reading this blog).

They aren’t, but I wanted see if I could create a link to saved search that would, as a practical matter, let people see them all in one place. (Here’s the link.)

When I did that, I noticed that I am fast approaching 5 years of writing the column. It first appeared in November 2007.

I remember how excited I was to get the call from Ed Adams about taking over the tech column. It’s a great list of topics that the columns have covered and my editor, Reg Davis, has been, if I may use the word, awesome to work with over the years.

The idea of the column is to write in a very practical way about a useful technology audience in a way that potentially appeals to all lawyers who read the ABA Journal. That can be a challenge, to put it mildly, but I always have fun writing the column. I’ve also enjoyed the comments most of the columns have generated. Well, except maybe the comments taking me to task for not covering everything about a topic in the 600 words I have to address the topic.

I’ve been vowing to update the list of all my articles over the years, but I haven’t made much progress. However, you can go to the “Articles” category archive on this blog to find many of my articles. I’ve also been toying with the idea of putting together a selection of my best articles and blog posts as a low-priced or free ebook. Let me know if you might have any interest in that so I can gauge the potential interest and audience.

In my experience speaking to lawyers, Twitter is the social media platform lawyers have the most difficulty seeing where the value might be. In this column, I focused on the non-tweeting side of twitter – search and trends.

I cover the basic details and highlight ways lawyers have used and might use Twitter search and trends. I’ve long used these tools and have always found them valuable. I always encourage lawyers to experiment with search and trends before they write off Twitter as something that makes no sense for them. You should do that too – you might be surprised at how much you can learn by using Twitter without actually tweeting.

Money quote:

Even if tweeting does not make sense for you, Twitter Search and trends as monitoring tools might.

My August ABA Journal tech column is called “Of Sound Mind: Make Plans for Your Digital Estate.” The column provides a quick overview of and some practical pointers for the increasingly-complex issues and questions that arise in handling our digital assets after we can no longer manage them ourselves.

As many readers know, I spent most of the first half of my legal career in the estate planning and tax field. It’s no wonder that the combination of estate planning and technology issues would interest me.

I’ve gotten the chance recently to talk a number of people who are also interested in this topic, most notably my friend Sharon Nelson and my personal estate planning lawyer and former law partner, Jackie Dimmitt.

The ABA Journal article is an attempt to distill a very complex topic into a 600 word format and offer a few practical pointers. It’s not meant to be a comprehensive treatise, but to start an important discussion. I like the way it turned out and invite you to read it.

As I ask in the article:

What happens to your online accounts, computer files and other “digital assets” when you die or become incapacitated? More importantly, what do you want to happen to them?

As usual, it comes down to people issues more so than technology issues. The best recommendation I have is point #5 – choose the right person. The traditional fiduciary choices probably are not the best choices for dealing with all of technology remains, especially all your Internet accounts. An estate planning lawyer is not reasonably knowledgeable of and comfortable with the issues of your digital estate and savvy about when and how to get help might cause your survivors undue stress and mishandle significant issues.

As I say in my conclusion: “The collision of the real world and the digital world always results in surprising consequences. Are you taking steps to ensure that the right things happen?”

Money quote:

How will your Internet friends get notice of your death, and can key accounts be accessed quickly and easily?

The focus of the column is on simple assessment as a key building block of your security plan – how do you know what steps to take if you don’t know where you currently stand? I take a look at some do-it-yourself tools, but concentrate on the idea of hiring a third party to do some vulnerability testing, something sometimes known as “white hat hacking.”

In vulnerability testing, the third party expert, at your direction, probes your network and systems and reports on the vulnerabilities it finds. You can take that report to determine where your security might need to be shored up.

Although you might think that this is something only for large firms, it’s important to realize that many smaller firms handle lots of sensitive client data, as well as internal firm data. You should be able to find providers of vulnerability assessments who will offer flat-fee options in the few thousand dollar range.

As I say in the column: “And since security is a process rather than a destination, vulnerability assessments should be performed from time to time on a schedule that makes sense for your practice.”

Money quote:

Data breaches can be time-consuming, publicly embarrassing and costly to deal with, and they might require notifications and even law enforcement involvement.

Dennis Kennedy

DennisKennedy.Blog was launched on February 15, 2003.

Dennis Kennedy is one of the few technology lawyers who is also an expert on the underlying technologies. Dennis an award-winning leader in the application of technology and the Internet to the practice of law.

This site gives you access to a wide variety of Dennis Kennedy's writings and information about how you can have Dennis speak to your organization or group.

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Dennis Kennedy is one of the most knowledgeable legal technologists you will find. - Michael Arkfeld.

Dennis Kennedy, a lawyer and legal technology expert in St. Louis, Mo., has been a significant influence in the ever-evolving relationship between lawyers and the Web. - Robert Ambrogi